It has been nothing more than an unproductive season for Rangers as they have been reduced to the stature of spectators by their arch rivals, Celtic, who have thumped a supreme domestic superiority.

Apart from their mediocrity, the anecdotes from Pedro Caixinha’s infant regime at the Ibrox Stadium haven’t made it very hard to deduce that a massive overhaul would be needed at the club over the course of the summer transfer window as his troops seemingly appear to be miles behind Brendan Rodgers’ outfit. The scenario is a worrying one to be honest.

To move away from the doldrums and to mount a substantial challenge for clinching domestic silverware, the Gers need to come back much stronger in the next campaign and one of the key areas they would need to tighten up is the central defensive sector.

It had emerged lately that the veteran pairing of Phillippe Senderos and Clint Hill, who are well beyond their prime, would not be handed a new deal by Caixinha, which implies that the former Al-Gharafa boss would be sniffing for a quality centre-back in the summer.

Portuguese international, Bruno Alves, has surfaced as one of the latest players to be linked with the Light Blues. The 35-year-old, who currently plies his trade for Cagliari in the Serie A, has been pretty consistent this season, scoring one goal and registering 0.6 tackles, 1.8 interceptions, 5.7 clearances and 0.7 blocks per game in his 35 outings in the Italian top division.

The Teddy Bears are pining for having someone who could instill the winning mentality back into them and it has to mentioned, first and foremost, that Alves has played a key role in winning silverware for his employers throughout the course of his career, including the Euro 2016 with his national side.

Besides, he is a meticulous defender who leads the backline in a shrewd manner, and is also excellent with the set pieces and reads the game quite well to nullify the anticipated damages. Moreover, his towering stature makes it difficult for the attackers of the oppositions to breeze past him and no wonder why he is so fondly talked about amongst the football fraternity. He has truckloads of experience under his belt which he accumulated whilst playing for clubs such as Porto and Fenerbahce and at the onset, it definitely looks like he has all the ingredients to be a hit under Caixinha.